By Manya A. Brachear
Chicago Tribune
November 13, 2010
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/religion/ct-met-cardinal-george-20101113,0,6338649.story
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| Cardinal Franics George (Chris Walker, Chicago Tribune / November 13, 2010) |
Chicago Cardinal Francis George will step down from the presidency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week, making room for a former Chicagoan, Bishop Gerald Kicanas, of Tucson, Ariz., to step up to the post.
The first cardinal elected to lead America's Catholic prelates, George will wrap up a three-year term at this week's fall assembly in Baltimore, where bishops also will discuss an agreement with Presbyterian Church-USA, the Reformed Church in America, the Christian Reformed Church, and the United Church of Christ to mutually recognize one another's baptisms as valid.
During his tenure, George aimed to strengthen Catholic identity by calling on church-affiliated colleges and media to abide by official teachings. Taking office as the U.S. presidential campaign got under way in earnest, George amplified Catholic positions on hot-button political issues such as abortion rights.
In George's presidential address after Barack Obama's election in 2008, he equated the opposition to abortion rights in the 21st century to the opposition to slavery in the 19th century.
"George will be remembered as a strong intellectual leader for the American bishops, and a leading force for clarity on matters of Catholic identity," said John Allen, a Vatican analyst and columnist for the National Catholic Reporter. "He'll also be remembered as the conference president who cemented the church's pro-life concerns, especially opposition to abortion, as priority No. 1."
Though there are nine other candidates for the presidency, bishops usually select the conference vice president — in this case Kicanas — to succeed the departing president. Kicanas, who became a bishop in Chicago under the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, is known for being more liberal than George. Allen predicts that Kicanas will work on relationships among the conference, theologians and health care professionals.
"I think his impact will be as a reconciler and someone who can broker compromise — somewhat in the Bernardin mold," Allen said, adding that the ideological differences between George and Kicanas won't matter to bishops.
"This isn't the Iowa caucuses — bishops don't vote exclusively along ideological lines," Allen said. "By and large, Kicanas is liked and respected even by people who might disagree with him on some issues."
The two men do have one thing in common — both were criticized for how they dealt with predator priests in the Chicago Archdiocese, most notably former priest and convicted sex offender Daniel McCormack.
Kicanas, rector of Mundelein seminary in 1992, while McCormack was a seminarian there, received reports of McCormack's relationships with a minor and other seminarians, according to an audit commissioned by the archdiocese after McCormack's arrest in 2006. Still, McCormack was ordained two years later.
George signed off on a promotion for McCormack two days before McCormack was taken into custody by law enforcement and questioned about allegations of abuse in August 2005. He was assigned a monitor at that time and arrested in January the following year. McCormack pleaded guilty to molesting five boys and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Victims advocates have continued to take issue with George's handling of priests' sexual misconduct with minors. Last month, the Chicago chapter of Voice of the Faithful released a report alleging that the church steered predator priests to low-income communities and failed to publicize the names of all priests linked to sexual misconduct with minors.
A letter from the cardinal recently published in parish bulletins called VOTF's claims "misleading and erroneous." An analysis of the report by the archdiocese concluded that, with the exception of McCormack, most allegations surfaced years after the priests' assignments. It also said the report used contemporary data in listing communities as low-income and failed to consider the demographic shifts in many parishes since the abuse allegedly occurred.
"We want to provide appropriate answers and correct information, but (the report) is seriously flawed," said Colleen Dolan, communications director for the archdiocese.
The archdiocese has never posted the names of priests who serve under the auspices of foreign dioceses, religious order priests, priests suspected of sexual misconduct with adults or deceased priests who weren't able to respond to the allegations before they died. But the church analysis noted that its Web site includes five names that VOTF omitted.
Contact: mbrachear@tribune.com
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